The Grinning Man musical, Messiah and more to be streamed by Bristol Old Vic for free

The season of free streamed shows will begin at the end of May

Bristol Old Vic has announced three shows that it will be streaming for free across the coming six weeks.

Each production will preview on Friday evenings at 7pm and will be available through Bristol Old Vic's website free of charge for a week.

On 29 May, the venue will stream its production of 2017's Messiah, directed by the venue's artistic director Tom Morris. Featuring performances from soloists Catherine Wyn Rogers and Julia Doyle, The Erebus Ensemble, The English Concert and actor Jamie Beddard, it transforms Handel's composition into a stage production.

Following that, on 7 June and in conjunction with the Old Vic in London, the venue will present A Monster Calls, adapted from Patrick Ness' novel. You can find out more about that here.

Finally from 26 June, hit musical The Grinning Man will be streamed for a week. Based on Victor Hugo's The Man Who Laughs, penned by Carl Grose with music by Tim Phillips and Marc Teitler, the piece first ran at the theatre as part of its 250th anniversary season. It then transferred to the West End late in 2017.

Further productions are to be announced.

Morris said today: "Watching theatre on your screen at home is not the same as experiencing a play in a beautiful auditorium with hundreds of others. That is why our ambition for this pilot season is not only to make some of Bristol's most-loved plays accessible to a wider audience, but also to give people a little taste of the magic they may experience when they step into our theatre on King Street, from arriving at the bar to taking your seat as the lights go down. It's that transformational feeling of surprise and delight that we want to share and celebrate."